The Five Fingered Hand of Eris

Here we see the original illustration of the Five Fingered Hand of Eris from the Principia Discordia.

Quoth the Principia:

"The official symbol of POEE is here illustrated. It may be this, or any similar device to represent TWO OPPOSING ARROWS CONVERGING INTO A COMMON POINT. It may be vertical, horizontal, or else such, and it may be elaborated or simplified as desired.

"The esoteric name for this symbol is THE FIVE FINGERED HAND OF ERIS, commonly shortened to THE HAND."

There is a movement afoot to adopt a stylized version of this glyph as the official symbol of the planet Eris, an effort the powers that be at Hexnet.org enthusiastically endorse fnord.

The hexagonal implications of this design are obvious and far-reaching. Clearly, the overall design is hexagonal, in that there are six protrusions from a central origin, along three axes of symmetry. Additionally though, the general structure as described in the Principia, consisting of two connecting arrows, is itself very hexagonal, in that the arrow is a form of trigonal archetype, and two triangles, added together, invariably form a hexagon. (Or some sort of lopsided quadrilateral. But ideally a hexagon.)

Why this is a five fingered hand and not a six fingered hand is a matter open to debate. Clearly, we have five fingers, but they are connected to an arm—so perhaps one of the six protrusions is an arm. Or perhaps the horizontal axis counts as one "finger" in both directions. It is indeed a mystery. However, it is interesting that, even with their penchant for fives, the the early Discordian fathers could not bring themselves to adopt a five-sided symbol for their cause. The pentagram remains a symbol for "aneristic" order, while the six-sided, hexagonal, and "organic" Hand remains the symbol of balance and vitality between the opposing forces of order and disorder. This is consistent with the use of hexagons elsewhere in modern symbolism, where they almost invariably represent principles of balance, harmony, symmetry, et cetera.